So an odd thing happpened at Chez Brown tonight.
And I'm here to tell the whole sorry tale (but worry not, I'll keep it short).
It started a week or so when Yahoo! News had a feature article called something like, "7 Wonder Foods That Are Really Good for You that You Should Have in Your Kitchen".
Well, at the top of the list was broccoli (which I had to check how to spell for this post, it's two "c"'s, one "l". So anyway, when we went grocery shopping a couple of days ago we bought some broccoli and brought it home. I figured, "Cool, with broccoli in the kitchen we'll both be healthier!"
Somehow I hadn't made the connection that you're actually supposed to eat the stuff.
I thought maybe it was like garlic and vampires. You know, you just keep garlic around (I think you're supposed to wear it on a cord tied around your neck) and anyway, vampires supposedly will give you wide berth. So, we had broccoli in the kitchen, and f'sure it would look really stoopid threaded on a cord and worn around your neck so I assumed that like on the shelf in the kitchen would do the trick. Or maybe in the refrigerator. You know, out of sight!
Hey that's an idea, maybe it could be like baking soda. Just shove some broccoli in the back of your refrigerator and it will make all the other stuff like butter and bacon even better for you. (Do ya think?)
Anyway, it being New Year's Day and all we wanted to have a good meal to celebrate the new decade so I told Marge I'd make Shrimp & Grits, which, if I say so myself, I do up pretty well.
And Marge dropped the bomb, "Okay, and I'll cook up some of that broccoli."
Gulp.
So we kind of discussed it a bit. I posited that if we actually ate it then we'd have to buy more in order to have that "healthy food in the kitchen" that Yahoo! was so insistent about.
But yeah, Marge won.
So here's the deal. I made up the Shrimp & Grits with my usual recipe (email me for it if you want it). And it was good. I use a lot of cheese in the grits (and real butter), and bacon and scallions and some other stuff plus I dose my own serving with a hefty dollop of Marie Sharp's habanero sauce. So it was excellent.
Except for the shrimp. I used some "back of the freezer since can't remember when" shrimp and it was okay, as in not spoiled or anything, but it was sorta tasteless and a little rubbery.
But the broccoli? The broccoli rocked! I know I've never had broccoli as good and I don't think I should count on ever having it as good again (maybe we really should go back to the keep it in the frig for the good of the other food strategy), but Marge's broccoli was outasight. I even finished (a few) extra servings on the theory that it was so good right in the moment that leftovers would be a disappointment.
So the broccoli clearly won.
Do I feel healthier? Hmm, not sure. Yet, but let's say Yes just to keep the peace and end the story.
And, oh yeah, there was a goodly portion of Shrimp & Grits left, so, even with the tired shrimp, I know what I'm having with my 4AM coffee. tomorrow.
